Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Mozilla Corp., the Mountain View,
California-based developer of the Firefox Web browser, has taken
a license to the patents of the Open Invention Network
collaboration, according to a statement from the network.

International Business Machines Corp., Red Hat Inc. and
Novell Inc. are also part of the network, which develops an
open-source ecosystem around the Linux operating system.

Patents owned by the network are available royalty-free to
any company or institution that agrees not to assert its patents
against the Linux system.

Myhrvold Gets Patent for Surgical Stapler Powered by Explosive

Nathan Myhrvold, the former chief technology officer at
Microsoft Corp., is a named inventor on a patent for a surgical
stapler that was issued Sept. 21.

Myhrvold, now the chief executive officer of Intellectual
Ventures of Bellevue, Washington, frequently participates in
“invention sessions” in which scientists from a range of
disciplines gather around a table at the company and work at
inventing new technology to solve existing problems.

On the newly issued patent, 7,798,385, Myhrvold is one of
12 named inventors. A number of the others named -- such as
Roderick Hyde -- are also listed on the Intellectual Ventures
website as members of the invention staff.

The patent is assigned to the Invention Science Fund LLC,
also of Bellevue. Most of the recent inventions on which
Myhrvold is a named inventor are assigned to corporate names
other than Intellectual Ventures that are also located in
Bellevue.

The surgical stapler can apply staples or adhesives,
according to the patent. It uses a “force releasing mechanism”
to emit a staple.

The patent specified that the force-releasing mechanism on
the stapler can be “at least one of a pressurized gas
canister/cartridge, a spring, a lever, an explosive charge, a
piezoelectric actuator, an electric motor, an electroactive
polymer or a solenoid.”

The application for the patent was filed in September 2007.

For more patent news, click here.

Copyright

‘Disturbia’ Doesn’t Copy Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window,’ Judge Rules

“Disturbia,” the 2007 film made by Steven Spielberg’s
production company, didn’t infringe the copyright of Alfred
Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” or the short story on which the
older movie was based, a judge in New York federal court ruled.

The Spielberg film isn’t “substantially similar” to the
murder mystery “Rear Window,” U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor
Swain said in a partial summary judgment ruling filed Sept. 21
in federal court in Manhattan.

The Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust, the copyright holder for
the story on which “Rear Window” is based, sued Spielberg,
Dreamworks LLC and Viacom Inc.’s Paramount studio, alleging
similarities between the two works.

“Murder From a Fixed Viewpoint” was written in 1942 by
Cornell Woolrich and first appeared in “Dime Detective
Magazine,” according to court papers. Hitchcock’s adaptation
came out in 1954.

Sheldon Abend, who died in 2003, was a literary agent who
in 1990 won a U.S. Supreme Court case brought by actor James
Stewart over the copyright to the detective story on which
“Rear Window” is based.

According to the court opinion, Abend acquired the
copyright for $650 and 10 percent of the proceeds from the
exploitation of the work from Chase Manhattan Bank, Woolrich’s
executor. Stewart and Hitchcock’s production company had sought
to show the film on television and otherwise exploit it.

Abend sued for copyright infringement, claiming he had the
right to control derivative works.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor agreed, writing for the high
court that because Woolrich didn’t reassign the copyright to the
film company, Abend’s rights governed the use of the material.

That case was Stewart v. Abend, 88-2102, Supreme Court of
the United States.

In “Rear Window,” James Stewart plays an injured
photographer convalescing at home who spies on neighbors in a
New York apartment building and comes to suspect one of them
murdered a woman. In “Disturbia,” a teenager under house
arrest spies on his neighbors and suspects one is responsible
for the disappearance of several women.

The case is The Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust v. Spielberg,
08-7810, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
(Manhattan).

Demi Moore Heads to Australia for Copyright Infringement Trial

Actress Demi Moore will testify in an Australian court next
week in a copyright suit she brought against Pacific Magazines,
Australia’s Herald Sun reported.

The suit related to the magazine’s publications of photos
of Moore and her family shot at a party at the home of pop
singer Madonna’s manager Guy Oseary, according to the Herald
Sun.

Moore has claimed she was assigned the copyrights to the
photos in an oral agreement, the newspaper reported.

She claimed she was damaged and suffered losses as a result
of the photos’ unauthorized publication, according to the Herald
Sun.

Trademark

The suit is related to Desert Glory’s packaging for its
greenhouse-grown “Cherub” grape tomatoes. The packaging, which
was introduced in 2006, consists of an opaque bowl and a clear
plastic dome.

The company registered the design with the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office in December 2007, according to the complaint
filed Sept. 20 in federal court in Tucson, Arizona. Desert Glory
says its annual sales of its Cherub tomatoes in the registered
package design are about $150 million.

Ag-Mart Produce Inc. of Plant City, Florida, is accused of
selling its “SweetRipes” grape tomatoes in packaging that is
confusingly similar to the Cherub packaging.

Desert Glory said the SweetRipes sold by Ag-Mart are “not
of the same premium quality” as the Cherubs. The Texas company
claims customers who are confused and buy the Florida company’s
product are likely to be confused and assume the two are from
the same source.

It asked the court to bar Ag-Mart from using its SweetRipes
packaging design and from using any packaging that is
infringing. It also seeks removal from all websites any
depictions or references to the SweetRipes package design, and
the destruction of all allegedly infringing packaging and
promotional material.

Additionally, Desert Glory seeks awards of money damages,
litigation costs and attorney fees. The company asked that
damages be tripled to punish Ag-Mart for its actions.

The case is Desert Glory Ltd. v. Ag-Mart Produce Inc.,
4:10-cv-00564-DCB, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
(Tucson).

University of Florida Tells Schools to Quit Using Alligator Logo

Glades Day School, a private school in Belle Glade,
Florida, received a cease-and-desist letter from Collegiate
Licensing Co. accusing the school of infringing the University
of Florida’s alligator-head logo, the Gainesville, Florida, Sun
reported.

The licensing company also sent warning letters to schools
in Mississippi and Arkansas over the use of the alligator,
according to the Sun.

The Florida day school uses different school colors --green
and gold -- from the university’s orange and blue and said that
altering the logo would mean changing the gym floor and signs on
the school, the newspaper reported.

A spokeswoman for the university told the Sun that the
schools that received the notice will be given a few years to
phase out the logo use, and that FSU isn’t “telling anyone to
throw away their uniforms” until “they wear out in the normal
fashion.”

Kenya Making Progress Against Imported Counterfeit Drugs

While more than 50 percent of patients in Africa are taking
incorrect drugs for their illnesses, the use of counterfeit
medications in Kenya has been curbed, Anyang’ Nyong’o, the
nation’s Medical Services minister, told Kenya’s Daily Nation
newspaper.

He said a cross-border efforts have cut back the
importation of counterfeits, according to the Daily Nation.

The most recent anti-counterfeit initiative was a regional
project that included Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzani, and involved
local police and Interpol, the Daily Nation reported.

The shortage of nurses and other health-care workers plays
a role in the incorrect diagnosis and use of inappropriate drugs
in Kenya, according to the Daily Nation.

For more trademark news, click here.

IP Moves

Orrick Adds to London IP Practice With Hire From Fox Williams

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP hired Kelvin Stone for
its London-based IP practice, the San Francisco firm said in a
statement.

Stone, who joins from London’s Fox Williams LLP, is a
specialist in transactional IP law, handling technology
licensing, outsourcing and development agreements, and mergers
and acquisitions. He represents clients in the e-commerce,
cloud-computing, software, hardware, digital media and software-as-a-service industries.

He has a diploma in legal practice from Exeter University
and a law degree from Brunel University.

USC Names Rich Friedman to Tech-Transfer, Licensing Post

The University of Southern California’s Stevens Institute
for Innovation hired Rich Friedman as senior director of
technology advancement and licensing, the university said in a
statement.

The institute is the Los Angeles-based university’s
technology transfer organization that assists in the
commercialization of intellectual property developed at the
school.

Friedman joined from the University of Texas at Austin
where he served as associate director of licensing. He
previously was a partner in the Silicon Valley office of San
Francisco’s Heller Ehrman LLP, where he served as a consultant
to technology startups and investors.

He has an undergraduate degree from the University of
Rochester, a law degree from the University of Chicago and a
master’s degree in business administration from the University
of Texas at Austin.